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A door screwed shut, a tiny window, an ignored smoke alarm and two lost lives

Firefighters arrived at the scene of a raging foster home fire in February to find a caregiver hanging halfway out of a small second-floor window and two victims sprawled on the floor at her feet.

The three were trapped by fire and smoke in the stairway outside the bedroom door of the two-storey Lindsay-area home, according to a Kawartha Lakes Fire and Rescue Service report obtained by the Star.

Youth worker Andrea Reid, left, 43, and foster-care home resident Kassy Finbow, 14, died in the fire last February in Oakwood, Ont. (GoFundMe / Facebook)

The only window that opened in the room was “too small for a person to exit.” And a sliding patio door in the room was “screwed shut and unable to be opened.”

Smoke alarms were triggered at the start of the fire but “occupants failed to respond,” the fire report says.

Resident Kassy Finbow, 14, and caregiver Andrea Reid, 43, were killed in the residence operated by Connor Homes, a private foster and group care provider. The caregiver who was stuck in the window survived. The Star has not yet been able to confirm her name.

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A 17-year-old resident of the rural foster home for girls has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of arson causing bodily harm in the Feb. 24 fire on Quaker Rd. in Oakwood. She cannot be named because she is a youth.

A source has suggested to the Star that when smoke alarms connected throughout the house rang, the caregivers in the upstairs room assumed the 17-year-old had pulled the fire alarm on the main floor as a prank.

“Fire origin was on the first floor, living room area,” says the fire report, obtained through a freedom of information (FOI) request. “Cause of fire is arson.”

The report doesn’t say how the fire started, but says the cause was “intentional” and “playing with heat” was a contributing factor.

The report comes as news to David Hodson, the lawyer for the accused girl, who said it was not part of the information provided to him by the Crown prosecutor.

“Despite repeated requests for disclosure, the results of your FOI request is the most information I’ve received about the fire,” said Hodson, adding the only information he has is that an accelerant was not used to start the fire.

Hodson said he has also yet to receive the report of the fire marshal’s investigation into the fire, a separate report, which he described as crucial for any defence.

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“You have a young person languishing in custody, waiting for trial,” he said in an interview. “She is entitled to civility, compassion and justice without delay.”

Hodson told the Star: “My position is the fire wasn’t started by my client.”

The accused, an Indigenous youth from northwestern Ontario, has so far made six court appearances and is being held in a detention centre that is almost a three-hour drive from the Lindsay courthouse, where the pre-trial is being held.

So far, no family members have been in court during her appearances. At her last appearance June 8, it was announced that her father had died. He was her only guardian.

The fire deaths have triggered multiple investigations about lax or non-existent provincial standards governing group and foster homes run by private companies. The OPP, Queen’s Park, children’s aid and Ontario’s child and youth advocate are all involved.

The Ministry of Children and Youth Services, responsible for licensing and inspecting these homes, is under fire for failing to adequately monitor them and for being slow to improve the quality of care. Minister Michael Coteau is expected to unveil a blueprint for reform within weeks.

An average of 15,625 Ontario children, who were taken from their parents due to neglect or abuse, were placed in foster and group homes in 2014-15. Between 3,000 and 4,000 are in for-profit foster homes, where regulations limit the number to four children and youth. Another 3,000 are in for-profit group homes that typically house eight or more kids.

At the Lindsay-area foster home, firefighters arrived at 3:51 p.m. to find flames shooting out the front and side, according to the fire report.

They raced up a ladder through thick black smoke and rescued the caregiver who was unable to crawl out of the window’s opening, which was 11 inches (28 centimetres) wide. She was taken to hospital and survived.

The two victims on the floor were carried down the ladder and given CPR. But it was too late. Kassy died that day. Reid died in hospital two days later.

NOTE: This story has been changed to reflect the correct age of Andrea Reid, 43.

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